Sure bet: Red Hot Chili Peppers headline relocated centennial blast

Spencer Patterson

Friday, July 1, 2005 | 8:33 a.m.

On Saturday, the talk finally gives way to rock.

Since Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's April 11 announcement of a free centennial concert to be held July 2, controversies over ticket distribution and debate about an appropriate venue have dominated coverage of the event.

But this weekend, approximately 50,000 music fans will get the chance to catch two of the more popular bands on the alternative rock scene, the headlining Red Hot Chili Peppers and opening act Weezer.

"I'm getting all revved up," Goodman said Wednesday as the event drew near. "We've got the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer. Can you have a better birthday party?" Gates to the soccer fields at the Silver Bowl Sports Complex (6800 E. Russell Road) open at 5 p.m. Saturday, with music slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. The event is scheduled to end at 11, after an eight-minute fireworks display.

The centennial concert was originally planned for a parking lot adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center before centennial committee organizers changed venues last week. Goodman cited increased comfort as the primary reason for the switch, but officials had also reportedly raised concerns over safety at the parking-lot site. "You always try to better a situation," Goodman said. "Initially the parking lot seemed to be the best place, but talking to Metro (police), everybody felt it was in the community's best interest to move it."

A Metro spokesman said police are prepared for an event with a crowd that will dwarf even the largest arena audience at a Thomas & Mack Center, MGM Grand Garden Arena or Mandalay Bay Events Center show.

"It's a very big crowd, and because of that we'll have a large contingency of officers there," Metro Sgt. Chris Jones said, comparing some of the logistics of the centennial concert to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway's annual NASCAR race, which drew more than 150,000 fans in March.

"I can't tell you the exact number for security reasons, but it will be well-staffed by Metro police," Jones said. "When people go to the concert and see the large contingency of officers, they'll feel secure and have a good time."

Red hot night

The Chili Peppers return to Las Vegas for their first show here since October 2003, when they played the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The funk-rock foursome vocalist Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante, bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary and drummer Chad Smith are at work on the follow-up to 2002 album "By the Way," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 charts.

In a Rolling Stone interview last month, Balzary predicted that the band would "probably play some new stuff" at the centennial concert.

Together since 1983, the Chili Peppers have been mainstays on the college and alterna-rock scene, charting high with "Give it Away," "Under the Bridge," "Scar Tissue" and "By the Way."

Weezer, best known for the self-titled 1994 debut album that included singles "Buddy Holly" and "Undone (The Sweater Song)," returned after a three-year absence with fifth album, "Make Believe," in May.

The band, fronted by the offbeat Rivers Cuomo, appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone even before its latest release hit stores and is in the midst of a long U.S. summer tour.

Saturday's show will open with a set by old-school hardcore punk outfit the Adolescents. The Southern California band is mounting its first tour since calling it quits in 1989.

Do's and don'ts

In a news release Wednesday, event organizers reiterated that all tickets to Saturday's show have been distributed and discouraged fans without tickets from coming to the site.

An initial batch of about 35,000 tickets went out through Web site www.vegasrocks100 in April, with another 5,000 tickets distributed at local Ticketmaster outlets in May.

Online auction site eBay has been brimming with ticket sales for weeks, with fans paying more than $100 per ticket in some cases.

Goodman said all original ticket holders -- about half of whom are expected to attend from outside Southern Nevada -- had been notified of the recent venue switch.

"We e-mailed everybody we know of," Goodman said. "Maybe people who bought their tickets on eBay will be standing in the (Convention Center) parking lot. I would love that."

Children ages 16 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to gain entry.

Temperatures are expected to reach 105 degrees or higher on Saturday. Free water and sunscreen will be available at multiple relief tents inside the venue, which will also feature concession areas and ATMs.

The sale of alcohol will end before the Red Hot Chili Peppers begin their set.

Parking lots at nearby Sam Boyd Stadium open at 1 p.m.

Among the event's list of prohibited items: lawn chairs, umbrellas, blankets, strollers, fireworks, firearms and outside food and alcohol.